Arizona's Bill To Prosecute Transgender People Who Use The ‘Wrong’ Bathroom

Arizona Lawmaker Introduces Bill To Prosecute Transgender People Who Use The ‘Wrong’ Bathroom: pLast month, the City Council of Phoenix, Arizona passed sweeping nondiscrimination protections, ensuring that people have equal access to employment, housing, and public accommodations regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity. One state lawmaker, Rep. John Kavanagh (R) is not pleased that transgender people will be protected when using the correct bathroom, and so [...]/p

Rep. Kavanagh goes on to say that we are not transgender, "we are Weird", of course this is what he thinks.  On into the article, he says "In Arizona, it is possible for transgender people to receive a new birth certificate* with their proper gender, but only if they undergo gender reassignment surgery, which not all trans people choose to pursue. In addition to being quite expensive, it also results in sterilization. Were Kavanagh’s bill to pass, trans people would have to sacrifice their ability to ever have children just to legally use the proper bathroom." 

There is also an issue that the Representative abhors men who voluntarily give up their gonads also gives up their male privileges as a sperm planter, and I would infer that for him, this is a God given right for all 'men' to impregnate a woman. What Rep. Kavanagh fails to see or understand is that trans people gladly give up that sexual ability in order to make their body and mind one, their strong desire to let go of the offending sex parts they don't want. Procreating is way down on the list of things to do on the mind of a trans person, male or female. He doesn't understand that for a trans woman it not the ability to give the sperm, is the reality that they can't birth their child, that's what a trans woman knows and understands. But they do know that they can adopt a child that a heterosexual couple has abused or given up; there is a child out there that would grow in love and understanding when raised by a gay couple.

Concerning the wording of "Chromosomal Count" I would like to believe they have taken into account all the variations that can be found, that it's not just XX or XY. For those people who are XXY and have been raised as female, will they be arrested once they have been identified as intersexed.

*Gender Identity Issues

Issues a new or amended birth certificate? Yes.
Arizona law permits a individual who has undergone sex-reassignment surgery or who has a chromosomal count that establishes that the individual’s sex is different than the information registered on his or her birth certificate to amend the birth certificate with 1) a written request for an amended birth certificate from the individual and 2) a written statement by a physician that verifies the sex-reassignment operation or chromosomal count.

Citation: ARIZ. REV. STAT. § 36-337(A)(3).

Updated: Tue, March 27, 2007 - 12:00:12

Life Renew

We all have to get one with our lives, and always it involves beginning again, starting over or what ever one calls it. But the one thing that I love to see is Spring! Spring and Mother Nature always surprises me with how she can change something that we, as human's try to mess up. New live springs up in the most unlikeliest of places, between cement blocks, in the rock and crevices, small trees in gutters; that kind of surprises.  I really needed to get back to my walking and so this morning was the day.

It really helps that my wife gave me an iPod for Christmas so that I can listen to my music as I walk and exercise, the other advantage is the camera takes great picture.  It's so much easier that lugging my big camera with me.  These are some shots that I took this morning.  You can tell that I love the colors of mornings and sunsets, I will never tire of their brilliance and displays.

These shrubs have grown over the years and there is beauty in their shape and form, but this picture shows the sadness of human nature in it's carelessness and intention to litter. Can't understand how people will deliberately litter our streets and yards with trash, as you can see the water bottle stuck in this tree's branches.

I call these the "Three Sisters", I have always wanted to get a picture of these in each season, that is Spring, in full summer and the brilliance of Fall, with the intention of putting them together.  And below is the walkway to the entrance of the West Hall, the main building on our campus here at Valdosta State. It's nice to see the flowing fountain as it add a sheer view of the entrance just behind.  The Azaleas you see have been in abundance this year, as they started to bloom in late February with what was a mild winter and has graces the city since with their color and variety.

Weekend Collision of Good Things.

     We sometimes find ourselves creating a weekend of collisions of good things, and they are all for a good cause; it just works out that way and we must deal with it.  So every year our town has the Azalea Festival, it's a two day affair of fun, sunshine and masses of blooming azalea bushes. The festival is a carnival atmosphere packed with vendor's selling homemade offerings that we must have, music, children's games, dog shows, you name it; it's probable here.

      Our PFLAG Chapter had a table this year, we weren't selling anything, or giving away prizes or candy; we just wanted to let the community know we are here and they gotta learn to deal with us.  This first photo is our celebration and reward for setting up the basics and tent.

This year I decided that we needed to up date and simply our PFLAG poster to show the issues in a more positive way, so I chose Safe Schools, some photo for the bathroom issue and support for same sex marriage.  Simply and straight forward I thought.

       There was quite a crowd of Saturday and a smaller one on Sunday.  We had great conversations with old and young, a few signed up for the email contact list and heard the story of how one young lady came out to her Grandmother after talking to one of our board members.  Very proud day and that one young lady made our weekend for us.  She just confirmed the reason why we need to be at the festival, be more visible in our communities and tell our stories.

        So that was part one of the weekend, another side story for us, was the interview Kay and I did with a student for her Sociology project Friday afternoon, before we set up the PFLAG table at the festival. As Advocates, we speak to several classes at the University (VSU) to tell our story of a Married Same Sex Couple in the state of Georgia and how that happened.  It's our story that we gladly share when asked.

                            

        But the Biggest story for me was being able to sing Haydn's Creation with a chorus of 120+ voices and full orchestra.  A performance like this always requires dedicated rehearsal hours; so for us it was one night a week for 9 weeks and 3 full rehearsals with orchestra before the performance on Saturday evening.  The final 'dress' rehearsal for me was of course Saturday morning for 2 1/2 hours, which meant that I could not be at the PFLAG table for the first hours of the festival.

   The soprano, was Tamara Hardesty, the bass, Nathan Stark and the tenor soloist was Mr. Stanford Olsen. I was particularly interested in meeting Mr. Olsen, (who is standing to the left of the conductor) as he has his Operatic debut in 1986, singing opposite Joan Sutherland, who I think, is one of the Queen's of the Metropolitan stage. His playful antics during the dress rehearsal made for a pleasant singing experience.

 

     It's always takes quite a lot of time, to put on a performance of such a grand scale, combining 3 University groups, and 2 community groups; but the performance was grand indeed.

The Pathologization of Trans* Identity

The Pathologization of Trans* Identity

"We must remind ourselves of the most fundamental principles of gender and transness -- your body is not your gender; your physical sex is not your fate. If you can be a man with breast tissue and a vagina, if you can be a woman with a penis, you can be trans* with whatever body you possess, whether you choose to alter it drastically or maintain it the way it is."

Cool or Controversial? New 'Coming Out' Video for Youth

Cool or Controversial? New 'Coming Out' Video for Youth

I think this is a great visual help for those who are asking, great advise, good common sense and simple message.  What do you think

It's Ash Wednesday, really?

Today is Ash Wednesday and the beginning of the Lenten season. A day which marks an important day in our Church's Calendar year. As Christian's who follow the Apostolic tradition's I have always seen this day as a day to begin the season of reflection and change; to get back on the wagon, as it were.

To steal a line from Elizabeth Keaten's blog, http://telling-secrets.blogspot.com, which I am going to chop up in this way; 

"Yes, the ashes are a sign of our mortality - the finiteness of human existence - which is the reason to repent. ...... "I always brush off the ashes from my forehead, anyway," she said.  "Really?" I asked, "Why is that?"  "Well," she said, "I've always thought of the ashes as the church's need to remind us of our mortality ......  as well as our sins. ....We may hold the pencil, but God holds the erasure." 

"I always brush off the ashes from my forehead, anyway," for how many years have I, have some of us walked out of church wearing our smudge of ashes with pride.  To keep our 'mark' like some badge of honor, some sign of our duty as one of those Christians. Never mind that our 'mark' was put on our foreheads at some evening service so we did not have to keep it very long. But we would carry this sign proudly. If I had gone to morning or noon service, I would forget the mark was on my forehead until someone would tell me I had a smudge or I would notice it when I looked into a mirror; and then I would wipe it off.

Elizabeth's post was about how much she uses a pencil instead of a pen and why. And of course, a pencil has an erasure which we tend to use quite often.  And so I love the phrase, "We may hold the pencil, but God holds the erasure." God can wipe our slate clean for us as many time as He need to forgive and erase.

But for how long do we carry a grudge on our shoulder against someone.  Why do we carry the burden of guilt, or of hurt on our own shoulder's; even after we have been forgiven, even after we have forgiven ourselves. Why is it so hard to erase hard feelings we might have against our 'brother'? Why do we carry around someone else's baggage when we know in our hearts it's not their's, but our  feelings against or about them.

At our recent Diocesan Convention, we erased a prohibitive moral canon which has kept a lot of good candidates from the priesthood, because they were gay and in a loving, wholesome relationship. We worked hard to change people's thinking about what this canon has done to so many of our gay brother's and sister's within the church. We were able to erase the fear and caution most people held which changed people's hearts.  But just as some pencil marks are made worse by a bad erasure, or marking made by a pen, we could not completely erase the words from some people's minds and hearts. Some of the people in that room will continue to have light pen or pencil marks on their shoulders, or foreheads even after God has used his erasure.

I hope that during this Lenten season I might 'work' on a few people to seek God's help in erasing or clearing off the chip on their shoulders, as it were. 

 

"The End is Near"

Frank Sinatra's song, "My Way" contain these lyrics for the first verse;
"And now, the end is here
And so I face the final curtain
My friend, I'll say it clear
I'll state my case, of which I'm certain
I've lived a life that's full
I traveled each and ev'ry highway
And more, much more than this, I did it my way"

For us we would gladly watch the curtain close on this year's end.  And what a year this has been for us as we both fought a bout of the flu in the past week.  Thank goodness we have our christmas shopping done; now it's trying to put together a Christmas dinner for the family.  Being able to bring the family back together and celebrate at the same table is a huge Christmas gift for Kay and I.  This is an answer to prayers long said and hoped for; but never thinking it possible. 

I was washing clothes last night and as I went to put them in the dryer, if found a lot of water on the floor; not a good sign but I though there was a backup to the discharge hose.  After checking the drain  and hose I began to fill the tub for the next load and immediate saw water running from under the machine.  So we now get to replace at least the washer if not both as they are quite old.

This year was most certainly done 'Our Way', what with being a delegate at our Diocesan Convention,  sitting at the GLBT table at the National Convention in Indianapolis, In, join a choir for a concert in the National Cathedral in Washington DC, joining the chorus for my University's production of "Candide" as a alumni.

On the sad side, Kay and I were with my family, as we sat with our Mother bedside when she passed away from us in April, only to watch an old friend and choir director pass away in June as we sat beside him with his dear wife and close church friends to say their goodbye's.

I would only infer that as we close the curtain on this year and finally put it on the shelf of our memories, that I have traveled many different highways and had to do it "my way", as each of us who is thinking, or has transitioned has figured things out in their own way.  As far as transitions go we are given the hub and the rim, it is up to us to construct our own spokes; as it were. We are given the square logs and we must cut and shape them as we find our own way.

I worked through my own transition years ago without any real outside influence almost drowning as frequently as I walked on the waters, breaking doors down and new ground with the government and medical institutions as I pushed my transition forward.  I am sure there will be other fights in the future but I am better prepared to fight them as I come to them.

Have a Merry Christmas and a Very Happy New Year.......